Hi all.
I was originally going to post this over in the Microsoft Windows and Software forum, but have since discovered something else.
First: I have a fresh install of Windows 11 on my custom-built desktop system; barely a week old yet, installed this past Saturday, 12/11/21. And, with my previous Windows 10 OS, I did not perform an in-place upgrade: I put Windows 11 on a bootable USB and changed my BIOS's boot priority and did it from there. So, a fresh, clean, from-scratch install of Windows 11.
Overall, very nice; I like Windows 11 so far. But then I noticed something as far as Internet/ web browsers.
I am not loyal to any one browser; I switch around from Edge, Firefox, Brave, and Google Chrome. For all of those browsers, I have my homepage set to www.msn.com
Since having Windows 11 for roughly the past week, I noticed something: When I launch a web browser (any of the four I mentioned above), the browser itself launched right away, no problem there. However.....the home page itself? About 7 to 10 seconds goes by while the page remains blank, and then the home page finally loads.
There's no problem with my Internet connection itself. I have high-speed DSL. After my homepage finally launches and appears with whichever browser I'm using, if I go to another web site, BOOM, it loads instantly. If I go to, say, www.speedtest.net and run a speed test, I am getting between 80 and 85 Mbps.
But that initial launch of any of my web browsers: The browser window itself launches right away.....but there's that long 7 to 10 second gap before the home page loads. So, I thought this problem was unique to Windows 11, because just prior to this when I had Windows 10 (same hardware/ system), this issue did not happen.
I did a search on the 'Net for Win 11/ browser pages slow loading, and I did find this:
https://www.windowscentral.com/windows-11-common-problems-and-fixes#fix_network_windows11
There's a section in there for "How to fix Wi-Fi and Ethernet adapter problems on Windows 11". So, I thought maybe this was a "bug" that they have not worked out of Windows 11 yet and that will be addressed in a future patch. But then....
But then, I mentioned at the start of my post about I "discovered something else".
I'm sure a lot of you know what a VPN is. I have a VPN that I use when I want to download a certain something, or, go to a web site or watch a video that is region-restricted. And it's not one of those free VPN's, it's a paid one; the company is called Private Internet Access.
Some people have their VPN launched all the time (or even have it start when Windows boots), but I only manually launch it when I want to use it for a specific reason.
Well, here's what I discovered, and, it almost seems like a contradiction or counterintuitive:
I launch my VPN. My VPN let's you choose where you'd like your IP redirected to (I'm in Arizona, and I usually choose something like Nevada or California). So, my VPN is launched, and then I launch one of my web browsers, and my homepage? BOOM, it fills the browser window right away, there's no 7 to 10 second lag time.
To me, this seems a contradiction or counterintuitive because my IP is now technically "further away" than where I am actually at geographically.
So.....any ideas? Why do any of my browser's homepages take a while to load when I am not using my VPN and everything is "regular"? And then when the VPN is launched, BOOM, the homepages instantly fills the browser window?
As you probably know, when you install a VPN, it will install its own network adapter in your computer. I have a Gigabyte motherboard, the B450M DS3H V2. If I go to Device Manager/ Network Adapters, there is the embedded network card listed as "RealTek Gaming GbE Family Controller". But also listed in here is "Private Internet Access Network Adapter" from my VPN company I use.
I'm now leaning towards my issue not being a Windows 11 problem, but rather, a network adapter issue.
After my initial install of the Windows 11 OS last Saturday, I also installed my motherboard's drivers/ software, which included the LAN drivers.
Any tips or suggestions?
Thanks,
Pez
I was originally going to post this over in the Microsoft Windows and Software forum, but have since discovered something else.
First: I have a fresh install of Windows 11 on my custom-built desktop system; barely a week old yet, installed this past Saturday, 12/11/21. And, with my previous Windows 10 OS, I did not perform an in-place upgrade: I put Windows 11 on a bootable USB and changed my BIOS's boot priority and did it from there. So, a fresh, clean, from-scratch install of Windows 11.
Overall, very nice; I like Windows 11 so far. But then I noticed something as far as Internet/ web browsers.
I am not loyal to any one browser; I switch around from Edge, Firefox, Brave, and Google Chrome. For all of those browsers, I have my homepage set to www.msn.com
Since having Windows 11 for roughly the past week, I noticed something: When I launch a web browser (any of the four I mentioned above), the browser itself launched right away, no problem there. However.....the home page itself? About 7 to 10 seconds goes by while the page remains blank, and then the home page finally loads.
There's no problem with my Internet connection itself. I have high-speed DSL. After my homepage finally launches and appears with whichever browser I'm using, if I go to another web site, BOOM, it loads instantly. If I go to, say, www.speedtest.net and run a speed test, I am getting between 80 and 85 Mbps.
But that initial launch of any of my web browsers: The browser window itself launches right away.....but there's that long 7 to 10 second gap before the home page loads. So, I thought this problem was unique to Windows 11, because just prior to this when I had Windows 10 (same hardware/ system), this issue did not happen.
I did a search on the 'Net for Win 11/ browser pages slow loading, and I did find this:
https://www.windowscentral.com/windows-11-common-problems-and-fixes#fix_network_windows11
There's a section in there for "How to fix Wi-Fi and Ethernet adapter problems on Windows 11". So, I thought maybe this was a "bug" that they have not worked out of Windows 11 yet and that will be addressed in a future patch. But then....
But then, I mentioned at the start of my post about I "discovered something else".
I'm sure a lot of you know what a VPN is. I have a VPN that I use when I want to download a certain something, or, go to a web site or watch a video that is region-restricted. And it's not one of those free VPN's, it's a paid one; the company is called Private Internet Access.
Some people have their VPN launched all the time (or even have it start when Windows boots), but I only manually launch it when I want to use it for a specific reason.
Well, here's what I discovered, and, it almost seems like a contradiction or counterintuitive:
I launch my VPN. My VPN let's you choose where you'd like your IP redirected to (I'm in Arizona, and I usually choose something like Nevada or California). So, my VPN is launched, and then I launch one of my web browsers, and my homepage? BOOM, it fills the browser window right away, there's no 7 to 10 second lag time.
To me, this seems a contradiction or counterintuitive because my IP is now technically "further away" than where I am actually at geographically.
So.....any ideas? Why do any of my browser's homepages take a while to load when I am not using my VPN and everything is "regular"? And then when the VPN is launched, BOOM, the homepages instantly fills the browser window?
As you probably know, when you install a VPN, it will install its own network adapter in your computer. I have a Gigabyte motherboard, the B450M DS3H V2. If I go to Device Manager/ Network Adapters, there is the embedded network card listed as "RealTek Gaming GbE Family Controller". But also listed in here is "Private Internet Access Network Adapter" from my VPN company I use.
I'm now leaning towards my issue not being a Windows 11 problem, but rather, a network adapter issue.
After my initial install of the Windows 11 OS last Saturday, I also installed my motherboard's drivers/ software, which included the LAN drivers.
Any tips or suggestions?
Thanks,
Pez